A 35-year-old woman, Basirat Alatise, whose husband, Morufu Alatise, 48, sought a dissolution of their marriage at the Agboyi/Ketu Customary Court in Lagos State, caused a mild drama when she bluntly refused to agree to the divorce, saying that the only condition she would accept the break up is if the husband could restore her to the state he met her so that she could be attractive to a man if she is willing to get married again.
Morufu had petitioned the court to dissolve the three-year-old marriage on the grounds that there is no more love as well as destruction of his property, constant embarrassment in public and show of wickedness but his wife insisted he must get her back to the state he met her or he would be stuck with her for life.
Morufu told the court that he met Basirat at a carnival and liked her and then decided to marry her; he said he met her mum who gave her approval and they got married. According to him, he told Basirat that he had another woman who had a child for him and she accepted arrangement but that when she packed into his house, she proved to be stubborn, fighting the mother of his child whenever she came to visit, often fighting the woman, embarrassing him in the process. He added that his wife even got to the point of getting him arrested and locking him up in a police cell several times.
But when the court asked the wife if she also wanted the divorce, Basirat said she was against it and would never agree to it unles Morufu made her to go back to how she was.
“When I met my husband, he never told me he was married. My relatives though, were asking me how a man in his forties would not be married; that it is better we investigate and know why he is not yet married all these years.
It was then that we discovered that he already has a wife and when I confronted him, he said that the wife he married died. After a while we discovered it was a lie, that the wife is alive and I became friends with her.
After a while, we then discovered that he now has another girlfriend he was secretly seeing and the lady comes to his office which is in our house to come visit him. It was very embarrassing for me and I confronted him and he told the lady to beat me up.
We fought and the lady tore my clothes and I immediately went to report at the police station and he was arrested and put in cell because he refused to produce the lady who fought me but I eventually bailed him.
I still forgave him but he still brings the new girlfriend to his office which my father gave him. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I usually harass him so that he would know that I am not happy with his attitude and he still continued and had the audacity to say he wants divorce.
I will never accept any divorce except he has the power to take me back to the position he met me before I got pregnant; return all the money I have spent, otherwise, this our marriage is until death do us part.”